Art - Sculpture: Aleksandr Pushkin

Growing up my grandmother was my reading companion. We shared an affinity for the chivalrous times of crinolines and duels and literary salons. We reread Pushkin's novel Dubrovskiy time after time, sitting on the worn red couch in the living room and talking about the characters when we were done. It was our perennial favourite and the two volumes of Pushkin's works were the first books my parents sent me after I moved to the States. Those two volumes with their red cloth covers and yellowing pages are filled with memories. They are memories, really.
Pushkin was one of the greatest poets and writers in Russian history. Eugene Onegin is his most internationally acclaimed work but he wrote many other poems, plays, short stories and fairy tales. Ballets have been written based on his works, music was written for his poetry resulting in operas and songs, and my generation grew up watching children's movies and cartoons based on the stories he created.
The sculpture you see in the picture was created by M.K. Anikushin and was unveiled in the Arts Square in St. Petersburg in 1957. It stands at almost 26 feet tall and is my favourite monument to the poet.